Cordal faced a grueling play-off against an old foe, Castlegregory, last Saturday in the seasiders’ home venue as they tried to secure a promotion to Division 4 of the County League.
By Paddy Flynn
The game was a much different affair to the last encounter between the sides.
This time scores were frequent and things became fiercely intense with Cordal just robbed of a win by a mere point in the end with the scoreboard reading: Cordal 2-14 to Castlegregory’s 2-15.
Trench Warfare
Saturday’s game was like trench-warfare where movements were back and forth and each side seemed to take turns making attacks. It was quite a stalemate with low scores due to the strong defence and fairly equal skill by both teams.
The game started off strong with the Cordal boys first to the post. Philip O’Connor opened the scoring with a point which he did in the fourth minute.
Consecutive Attempts
Castlegregory made consecutive attempts to break through Cordal’s defence lines with Timothy Murphy scoring two points in the ninth and 13th minutes but shooting a wide with his third attempt. Cordal now went on the attack and Philip O’Connor was on the ball again for Cordal scoring from a free in the 21st minute.
The next few minutes saw both sides wrestle for control of the ball with Castlegregory coming out on top.
Maurice Slattery scored a point for Castlegregory in the 23rd minute but missed another point chance in the 29th when he wided a free.
Renewed Drive
Timothy Moriarty finished up the half when he scored the last point for Castlegregory in the 30th minute. This left things at 0-4 for Castlegregory to Cordal’s 0-2.
The second half saw Cordal arrive on the pitch with a renewed drive and Donal McCarthy was quick to add a point in the fourth minute.
Philip O’Connor equalised in the seventh minute leaving things at 0-04 a piece. From that point on, Castlegregory ended the stalemate and went on the offensive for the remainder of the half leaving Cordal to show their skills in their back line.
First to Score
Adam O’Donnell was first to score for Castlegregory when he booted a point in the 11th minute. Next up was his team-mate, Joe O’Connor with a point from a free in the 14th minute.
Liam Maunsell was the next Castlegregory man to score and he shot the ball over the Cordal bar in the 22nd minute.
Jordan Quirke was quick to follow on from this and scored a point for Castlegregory four minutes later.
Liam Maunsell finished up the game with the last point of the day in the 34th minute leaving Castlegregory the victors.
Crucial Saves
That being said, and despite the loss for the Cordal boys, their backs and defenders proved themselves very strong in this game and Sean Óg Ciardubháin made crucial saves in the goals keeping the Castlegregory total down.
The strong defending from Cordal prevented Castlegregory from scoring goals.
Brian Reidy stopped a crucial Castlegregory goal when he hit it out of the way just on time. Cordal is now second in the table – meaning we are still in a safe position to qualify to Division 4. Cordal’s next game will be against Ballyduff – which is still to be fixed.
The Cordal Squad
1. Sean Óg Ó Ciardubháin, 2. John Mannix, 3. John Brosnan, 4. Florence Griffin, 5. Padraig O’Connell, 6. Michael Cahill, 7. Billy Cronin, 8. Philip O’Connor, 0-03; 9. Brian Reidy, 10. Geroid O’Leary, 11. Donal McCarthy, 0-01; 12. Niall Ó Ciardubháin, 13. Tim O’Donoghue, 14. Pa Naughton, 15. Michael Flynn. Subs: Mossie Enright, Jack McAuliffe, David Leary, Thomas Reidy, Colm Reidy, T.J O’Connor, Kieran O’Donoghue, Jason Cronin and Padraig Brosnan.
July Lotto Biggest to Date at €7,200
The July Lotto has a mega jackpot of €7,200. This is now the largest Lotto Jackpot Cordal has had to date.
The July Lotto will take place at the end of the month in Shoemaker’s Bar. As always you can get Lotto tickets from our sellers or you can buy tickets at Kearney’s Post Office, Cordal or at Jackie Reidy’s Menswear, Castleisland.
If you want to buy online go to www.cordalgaa.com. Best of Luck from Cordal GAA Club.
